This is the first firmware update for the production version of the DM42.

The final beta version of the firmware was V2.11.6. New production units shipped with V3.0, so for the benefit of the beta testers who still have V2.11.6 on their calculators, we'll also go through what was new in V3.0.

Release notes V2.11.6 to V3.0:

Built-in quick reference guide

Status bar configuration

Self test functions (System menu)

Better reporting of battery voltage

Built-in quick reference guide

This was alluded to in 2.11.6 where you were able to view a stub for the help system when pressing F1. That help system is now here. The help file itself is not part of the firmware so that it can be updated without users having to flash a new complete firmware. You will therefore need to check online for the latest version of the help file.

Simply visit https://www.swissmicros.com/dm42/fat/HELP/latest/ to view the latest help file. This is a simple HTML page that you just have to save as "index.htm" to the HELP directory in the DM42's FAT drive. Save the page from your browser as "HTML only", not "Complete".

Navigation instructions are given within the help file itself.

Status bar configuration

You can now configure what appears in the status bar at the top of the DM42's screen. Go into "[SETUP] > Settings > Status bar" and you will see that you can choose whether to have or not:

State filename

Day of week

Date

Time

Battery voltage

Furthermore, you can select the date separator used if the date is displayed ("/", "-" or ".") and whether you would like the month to be displayed numerically or with its abbreviated name.

Self test functions

"[SETUP] > System > Self Test" contains 4 diagnostic functions to allow you to test the keyboard, the LCD, the infrared diode and the buzzer.

Battery voltage reporting

The battery voltage is dependent on the age of the battery and the load that it is being put under at any given moment and does not necessarily give an accurate idea of how much juice is left in it. The readings are now smoothed by software so that, for example, a long, intense calculation that drew a lot of power does not lead to a reading that shows the battery as almost flat immediately after the calculation has completed.

Release notes V3.0 to V3.1:

Help text drawing fixes

Free42 updated to V2.0.7

'×' and '÷' glyphs in help system

Font width calculation

Help text drawing fixes

A few glitches in the way text was laid out in the help system were ironed out (line breaks where you wouldn't expect them, for example).

Free42 V2.0.7

Among other things, Thomas Okken altered the random number generator in Free42 such that is now behaves exactly like the HP-42S. His release notes relevant to the parts affecting the DM42:

Changed the RAN and SEED functions to match the behavior of the real HP-42S. The previous implementation used the algorithm from the HP-41C Standard Pac, which produced numbers with only 6 significant digits.

'×' and '÷' glyphs in help system

Somehow these two glyphs had been swapped over in the HTML decoding table! Fixed...

Font width calculation

When using the "Vintage HP" font, the DM42 didn't calculate the number of characters that can fit on screen correctly. This resulted in numbers that need more characters than are available not being forced to ENG 02 format and being truncated in the stack instead. Fixed.

The QSPI chip's contents remains the same for versions 2.11.6, 3.0 and 3.1.

Also, I don't see anywhere whether or not 3.1 is safe to flash to a Beta unit. Is it?

SM wrote

The final beta version of the firmware was V2.11.6. New production units shipped with V3.0, so for the benefit of the beta testers who still have V2.11.6 on their calculators, we'll also go through what was new in V3.0.

I answered my own question about 3.1 on beta units. It seems to work fine. I did have to recreate the bootloader INI file so the DM Tool could see the new unit and then recreate it again for the beta unit. They have different USB ID numbers so when I switch back and forth, I have to run inf-wizard.exe each time. I expected that and it's not a problem but I thought I'd mention it just in case it didn't occur to other owners of both a beta and a production calculator.

Downloaded the help file https://www.swissmicros.com/dm42/fat/HE ... 171219.zip transferred to my beta DM42 and to my production DM42. Now guess what: on my beta unit the navigation aid correctly shows the assignement of the navigation keys, whereas the production unit still shows them exchanged. BUT NOW whats really weird! When I hook the production unit to my computer and open the index.htm everything is correct. Same file different on the beta unit and the PC versus the production unit! Has someone got a clue?

I have of course made several attempts to ensure I'm always dealing with the same file.

Günter

Edit: same effect if I save the "latest" und load that onto the calculator